Last week, I wrote a little article trying to get people to calm down about the swine flu. Yes, it will get you sick, yes, it’s contagious, and yes, if you get it you should seek medical attention. But as of today, the CDC has only three cases of swine flu in my state, and only one swine flu-related fatality in the US.

In other words, the swine flu hasn’t affected me or anyone that I know. Until, that is, I went to the hardware store this weekend. I’ve just moved into a house, and it needs a lot of work. And by that, I mean there are rooms that are unfit for a human presence just yet. So, this weekend, I decided to start cleaning the grossest room in the house, which (apparently) had been used as a chicken coop. You can only imagine the horror of what it looks and smells like inside. But, unlike the swine flu, bird droppings pose a real health hazard to me. So I did what any responsible man (whose wife tells him not to get himself sick) would do: I went shopping for some of these:

Respirator masks, so that I could breathe without getting myself sick. And you know what? The hardware store was out of them! Seriously, people are paranoid enough about contracting the swine flu that I can’t buy a simple mask at a hardware store.

So I’d like to know — and the best way to find out is to ask — how do you feel about the swine flu? How has it (if at all) affected you?

Comments

I voted “I don’t have it and am annoyed at all the fear-mongering surrounding it”, but that isn’t exactly how I feel.

I recognize that the risk of it affecting me is extremely low, since I live in the United States, but there is a very real possibility of it affecting hundreds of thousands of people in areas where health care standards are much lower than here.

When SARS broke out in Asia, the countries that had to deal with it had the money to set up infrastructure to deal with infectious diseases, so that greatly minimized the death toll. Consequently, those same countries are now prepared to deal with H1N1, and since the infrastructure is already in place, they will do a much better job of containing it than they would have done without said infrastructure.

However, poorer areas such as Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central America do not have this infrastructure and probably don’t have the money to set up anything as efficient. This could result in a large death toll in these areas, and that is the major risk of this disease.

While I’m annoyed that people in the U.S. are overreacting and buying masks and such, I am also annoyed at the reaction that most of them would probably have to large scale deaths in the poorer areas of the world I mentioned (as is the case with the larger scale death already present in those areas from lacks in health care, lacks in food and water supply, and the generally lower standard of living).

The only way I’ve been affected is the admin for my school coming into class and announcing that we’d have to shut down for a week if even one student showed up with a CDC verified case. I really don’t want that to happen.

I had the some problem with the last flu scare we had. I ended up buying a box of N95 masks just to have some in my shop when I needed them. The problem is that the rubber straps have aged and will need to be replaced if I decide to use them.

Over here in Houston, we also have experienced a shortage in respirator masks. Fortunately, being the innovators we are, we’ve discovered a cheap and abundant alternative that is equally effective and available at any local grocery or convenience store: coffee filters!! They can be fastened over the mouth using a simple household rubber band, as demonstrated below:

“I know someone who has it, but I’m still annoyed at the fear mongering”

A coworker of mine was working from home today – his kids are sick with the flu. Two other kids in the same class are confirmed swine flu cases (some of the only ones in Houston), so they’re likely cases, even if it isn’t confirmed yet.

I’ve stopped watching cable news entirely for the moment. Until this story goes away, that is. The panic! is growing intolerable.

I’m a biologist and have mixed feelings about the whole thing. We’ve had only one confirmed case in my county, so there’s not a huge amount of hype in our local media. Also, my husband and I fall into one of the demographics that may have heightened immunity. On the other hand, I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing because we’re going to be traveling to Europe soon and the last thing I want to do is get sick before leaving the U.S.

This whole mess has come about at a point when I’d already started doing a bit of “social distancing” for other reasons — first of all, I just finished a project and left my job, so I don’t go to a crowded place every day, and second, I’ve been avoiding restaurants because I tend to overeat when dining out. We’re also always well-fixed for masks because my husband and I both have dust and mold allergies, and live in an apartment where it’s sometimes difficult to control allergen exposure. But it’s interesting that there’s such a run on masks when there are much better ways — like good hand hygiene — to protect oneself from flu.

I haven’t watched TV news since the Cronkite years, nor read much print news since the late 1990s. I’ve been entertaining myself somewhat by reading online coverage from the CDC, WHO, and well-presented biological/medical blogs — and comparing them to the very poorly written, fearmongering, and often self-contradictory crap coming out of the mainstream (online) media.

At any rate, I think that the Mexican and U.S. governments, as well as local governments, are doing quite a lot better at handling the flu outbreak than I’d have expected. Although I wouldn’t want to be one of the hapless travelers quarantined in Hong Kong, I fully understand why countries that experienced SARS don’t want to be caught napping.

I am a cross of two of the options. I am worried that my girls will get it. My oldest is disabled. Last year when the shot didn’t match, she became very sick with the flu and a secondary infection. Since then my youngest has been diagnosed with asthma and has had a rough winter from only colds. She also ended up with pneumonia at Christmas. Any flu worries me with those two.

On the other hand, I am tired of the fear mongering. It ultimately winds me up and I start to worry about things that are neither occurring currently nor are within my control in the least.

Swine Flue!Can’t shopping!?
Come here:http://www.gobrandmall.com
Just stay at home,saving money and own the best things.
We mainly supply Jordan,Nike,Puma and other sneakers,
Including Jordan 2009 and other 2009 new styles of shoes.
LV,GUCCI,PRADA,FENDI and other luxurious handbags.
Save up to 80%.
Our website is construction now,the products will update in these days.
If you want to buy any sneakers that don’t exist in it,please feel free to contact me,we will try best to meet your demand.
Free shipping in these days.
Welcome!

Impact of swine flu so far:
1) I have taken up compulsive handwashing as a hobby.
2) My niece lost a day of school when the administration decided on a “better safe than sorry” response to a dozen kids coming back from a bus trip to Florida complained of flu-like symptoms (although it may have just been kids seeing if they could get a day off).
3) I’ve been playing more Pandemic 2, and now understand the President Madagascar “Shut Down EVERYTHING!” meme. (Wiping out those pesky humans is harder than you’d think….)